CHRISTOPHER AXWORTHY Dip.RAM,ARAM

Christopher Axworthy was born in London,but since 1980 has built and run the Ghione Theatre in the centre of Rome together with his wife the distinguished actress Ileana Ghione .

It has become one of the most important theatres in the city having created its own theatre company principally for young actors.

At the same time Euromusica of International standing was created with over 40 concerts each season.Not only famous musicians strangely neglected by Rome but also for young talented musicians seeking an important platform.

For this activity his wife was awarded one of the highest honours from the President of Italy –Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana and he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in London.

Some of the artists who played and often gave masterclasses for young musicians too include:

Vlado Perlemuter,Guido Agosti,Shura Cherkassky,Annie Fischer,Dame Moura Lympany,Fou Ts’ong,Peter Frankl,Rosalyn Tureck,Gyorgy Sandor,Alicia De Larrocha,Peter Katin,Ruggiero Ricci,Idil Biret,Dominique Merlet,Bruno Canino,Pina Carmirelli,Jeno Jando,Vadim Repin,Mikhail Pletnev,Tatiana Nikolaeva,Andor Foldes,Paul Tortelier,Janina Fialkowska,Angela Hewitt,Ivo Pogorelich,Friedrich Gulda,Jerome Rose,Dmitri Alexeev,Oxana Yablonskaya ,Boris Berman,Gervase De Peyer,Bary Tuckwell,Paul Badura-Skoda,Franco Mannino,Fausto Zadra,Martha Noguera,Aquiles Delle Vigne,Lya De Barberiis,Alberto Portugheis,Alexander Romanovsky,Bruno Canino,Karlheinz Stockhausen,Luciano Berio,Marilyn Horne,Lucia Valentini Terrani,Carlo Bergonzi,Jose Cura,Mariella Devia,Margaret Price,Dame Gweneth Jones,Olga Borodina,Dmitri Hvorosovsky,Nicolai Gedda,Giuseppe di Stefano,Goffredo Petrassi,Eliot Carter, Dame Eva Turner,Roberto Prosedda,Jayson Gillham,Alexander Ullman,Vitaly Pisarenko,Pablo Rossi,Leslie Howard,Carlo Grante etc.

Christopher Axworthy has also been invited on the jury of many International Competitions in Italy including Enna,Monza and Sulmona,and was for many years also and examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

He studied in London from an early age with Sidney Harrison and continued his studies with him for three years at the Royal Academy of Music and for a further two years at the RAM with Gordon Green and Frederick Jackson receiving chamber music guidance together with Graham Johnson from John Streets.

He won all the major prizes which included:Liszt Open Scholarship,The Tobias Matthay Fellowship,RAM Student Fellowship and the Recital Diploma where he was awarded the MacFarren Gold Medal,the highest award of the RAM.

Leaving the Academy to study with Vlado Perlemuter in Paris and Guido Agosti in Rome and Siena on scholarships from the Italian Government,Leverhulme Trust (via Youth and Music),Countess of Munster Trust.

He has played extensively throughout Italy and amongst many performances he gave the first performance in Italy, directing from the keyboard ,of Trouble in Tahiti by Bernstein.

He also gave a series of recitals of Benjamin Britten to mark his 60th birthday sponsored by the British Council and played at the British Embassy on the occasion of the visit to Rome of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

He was a trustee of the Tureck Bach Institute in Oxford and is actually a trustee and co- artistic director of the Keyboard Charitable Trust.

His main activity has been running a major concert hall in Rome and for the past 40 years helping young musicians to find a platform.

He dedicates himself still to helping young musicians mainly via the Keyboard Charitable Trust based in London